Musha Shugyo - warrior training

A method of training in martial arts. Originally, it meant that warriors traveled around the country, overcoming the difficulties of mountains, fields, rivers, seas, cold, heat, wind and rain, training their minds and bodies, refining their martial arts skills, and trying to achieve their goals through repeated examination and ingenuity. Later, it meant that martial arts trainees traveled around the country to visit famous martial artists and martial artists, and interacted with various schools to improve their techniques. In the late Muromachi period, instructors specializing in martial arts appeared in Kyoto, and martial artists gathered from all over the country to stay and hone their martial arts and martial arts skills. On the other hand, some local martial artists had the greatest desire to go to Kyoto with the martial arts they had mastered, present them to the shogun, and make a name for themselves as the best in the world. Tsukahara Bokuden and Kamiizumi Nobutsuna are representative examples of this. During the Sengoku period, many military strategists traveled all over the country to train as warriors, always participating in battles and achieving military success, and if they heard of someone who had gained a reputation as a warrior, they would always challenge him to a duel, hoping to win; there were also many military strategists who sought the opportunity to be employed with a higher stipend than others.

In the Edo period, there was a trend of warrior training in the early days, but as masters in each domain were established and the honor of the style and the secrecy of the techniques were emphasized, the tendency to be closed off became stronger, and after the Genroku period (1688-1704), the trend toward peace and the prohibition of serious sword fighting led to a decline in matches between other styles. However, when the bamboo sword practice invented during the Tanuma period became popular and new styles emerged, mainly in town dojos in Edo, many samurai from the various domains resonated with this and began to frequent these dojos, which eventually led to the spread of this style to the provinces. Also, with the establishment of domain schools, demonstration halls were established on the premises, and the meaning of the system of a single master faded away, and practice matches between households began. When the ban on matches between other styles was lifted, martial arts training on the roads became active again, and people began to study abroad in Edo and other domains. However, as the number of traveling monks increased towards the end of the Edo period, each feudal domain was concerned that they would be left unchecked, and so they designated lodgings for monks in their castle towns and implemented a system of notification and permission from martial arts training halls and masters. In addition, the hospitality of local private dojos varied, but usually the limit was three nights.

[Ichiro Watanabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

武術の修行法の一つ。もともと武士たちが各地を巡り歩き、山野河海、寒暑風雨などの困難を克服して、心身を鍛え、武技を練り、吟味工夫を重ね、その達成を図ったことをいうが、のちには武術修行者が、諸国知名の兵法者(へいほうしゃ)、武芸者を巡訪して、諸流と交わり技術の向上を図ったことをいう。室町後期になると、京都には武術を専門とする教授者が出現し、武者修行の者が諸国から蝟集(いしゅう)して、ここに滞留して兵法や武術を磨いたが、一方、地方の兵法者のなかには、自ら精妙を悟得した武術を携えて京都に上り、将軍の御覧に供して、天下一(てんかいち)の名をあげることを最大の念願とする者があった。塚原卜伝(ぼくでん)や上泉信綱(かみいずみのぶつな)らはその代表的人物である。戦国時代に入ると、武者修行で全国各地を巡回し、戦いのある所にはいつも参加して武功をあげ、また武辺に名を得た者のあることを聞けばかならず勝負を挑んで勝ちを望み、他人よりも高い知行(ちぎょう)で召し抱えられる機会をねらう兵法者も少なくなかった。

　江戸時代に入り、初期には武者修行の風もみられたが、各藩の師家が定着し、流儀の名誉と技法の秘密が重視されると、閉鎖的な傾向が強まり、元禄(げんろく)（1688～1704）以降、泰平の風潮と真剣勝負の禁止などにより、他流試合は衰微した。しかし、田沼時代に創案された竹刀(しない)打ち込み稽古(げいこ)が流行し、江戸の町道場を中心に新流が台頭すると、諸藩士のなかでもこれに共鳴して、これらの道場に出入りする者が多くなり、やがてこれが地方に普及する端緒を開いた。また藩校の設置に伴い構内に演武場が併設され、師家単独制の意味が薄れ、家中相互の試合稽古が行われ、他流試合の禁が解かれると、ふたたび廻国(かいこく)修行が活発となり、江戸や他藩への留学も行われるようになった。しかし幕末に至り廻国修行者の増加とともに、これが野放しになることを懸念して、各藩では城下に修行者宿を指定し、演武場や師家への届出・許可制をとった。また地方個人道場の応待はまちまちであったが、通常3泊を限度としていた。

［渡邉一郎］

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